Kenyans fear Dakatcha Woodlands biofuel growth
23 March 2011
By Will Ross
BBC News, Dakatcha
Sitting in the shade of a tree next to his thatched mud hut in in Kenya's Dakatcha Woodlands, Joshua Kahindi Pekeshe is bold.
"We are not going to let this land go even if it suggests shedding blood," he told the BBC.
"Land is very crucial to us. We farm and get our livelihood from it. On this land we bury our dead."
He is among the lots of people opposed to the production of a large biofuel plantation in the location, about an hour's drive inland from the coastal town of Malindi.
It is an arid area and home to some 20,000 people along with internationally threatened animal and bird types.
Ambitious goals
An Italian business has asked the authorities for consent to rent 50,000 hectares there to grow jatropha, whose seeds are abundant in oil that can be become bio-diesel.
This plant, initially from South America, has actually long been grown in Africa as a hedge to stay out animals - goats remain well away as it is poisonous. The area affected is community land which is being kept in trust by the regional council.
Kenya Jatropha Energy Ltd is 100%-owned by the Milan-based Nuove Iniziative Industriali SRL.
It has rented practically a million hectares in Africa; jatropha oil from a plantation in Senegal is being provided to the Swedish furniture seller Ikea. Other companies have leased land for the very same purpose in Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ghana, in addition to in India.
This expansion has actually been stimulated by the European Union, which has actually set ambitious objectives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing its dependence on imported oil.
The 27 EU nations have registered to an instruction which states that by 2020, 20% of energy need to be from sustainable sources, external.
Why is Africa impacted?
Because it is difficult to discover 50,000 hectares of readily available land to grow a biofuel crop in, for instance, the UK or Italy.
Why 'feed' a car?
But project groups have labelled a few of the tasks in Africa "land grabs" with alarming effects for the frequently voiceless African communities.
Some ask: "Why 'feed' an automobile in Europe when cravings in your home is still a reality?"
"Our future is no longer in our hands. We have actually been told we need to move because they wish to plant jatropha here," said 27-year-old Merciline Koi, a mother of 2, who included that there had actually been no deal of settlement for leaving her home in Dakatcha Woodlands.
Kenya Jetropha Energy Ltd says the settlements are over - the government has given the green light for a pilot project to start with 10,000 hectares and all it is awaiting now is the final documentation.
The business says hundreds of long-term and countless seasonal jobs will be created and it denies that anyone will be displaced by the job.
"We wish to safeguard your homes and the personal property. We will farm around your houses," Kenya jatropha curcas Energy Ltd head Girardello Adriano informed the BBC from Milan.
"We are assisting these people. They are really delighted for this job. No-one will be moved."
How green are biofuels?
According to the Kenyan federal government's environment watchdog, the deal has not yet been sealed. It rejected the initial 50,000-hectare demand pointing out issues over the influence on the environment and the sustainability of the project.
"We were recommending 1,000 hectares ... We have told them to justify if the number has to alter which is why we haven't approved the job already," said Benjamin Malwa Langwen, of the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
However, there are now fresh calls for the Dakatcha job to be scrapped as new research study casts doubt on whether jatropha curcas is actually a greener option to oil.
The anti-poverty campaign group ActionAid and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) commissioned a report to investigate simply how green the jatropha curcas job in Kenya's Dakatcha woodlands would be.
The study by the consultancy group North Energy, external found that jatropha would give off between 2.5 and 6 times more greenhouse gases when compared to fossil fuels.
This is partially due to the fact that big amounts of carbon are kept in the forests' vegetation and soil but the plantation would indicate clearing the land of this greenery.
"The report reveals that EU policies are foolish policies due to the fact that they are not decreasing greenhouse gas emissions as the EU is proclaiming," said ActionAid's Chris Coxon.
"The proposed biofuel plantation will ravage the forests, driving the internationally threatened Clarke's Weaver bird to termination and denying thousands of local individuals of their livelihoods," said Helen Byron of the RSPB.
In action, the EU Commission defended its energy policy as "the most comprehensive and advanced sustainability plan for biofuels anywhere in the world".
Unorthodox techniques
At the remote Mulunguni primary school, which lies within the Dakatcha Woodlands, several new class and pit latrines have simply been constructed.
They were part funded by the European Union - the very organisation which is now implicated of pushing policies which residents fear could see the school closed down.
"My concern is the displacement of the community. It is not great to build a class and then send out the pupils away," stated the deputy head Godfrey Karissa.
"Yes we require tasks. But a farm without a home is bad. You require to have a home before you go to your task."
There are clearly concerns on the ground that as soon as the lease is signed, the population will be at the mercy of a profit-driven business.
Ikea states it will not source jatropha curcas oil from Kenya up until it can be sure that this will not add to the conversion of natural environments.
"This switch from fossil fuels to renewable resource need to never ever be at the expense of people or the environment," Ikea informed the BBC in a declaration.
The woodlands are likewise an abundant source of material for traditional medicine.
If they feel let down by the government and the regional authorities, residents just may turn to unconventional approaches in a quote to keep the land.
"If all the senior citizens come together for one goal, then it is really easy to remove him with our medications," stated Barova Kiribai, a conventional therapist, referring to the owner of the Italian biofuels company.
The fate of individuals here is in the hands of the Kenyan government and Malindi's community council.
It is not surprising they are worried.
Kenya's political leaders do not have an excellent performance history when it concerns working in the interests of the people.
ActionAid
Kenya jatropha curcas Energy
RSPB
Nema
Ikea
